Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia Darlington hosts first student government conference
Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Rome, GA
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Darlington hosts first student government conference

Will Crawford | December 8, 2015 | 1224 views

The Student Council’s inaugural student government conference, hosted in the Yancey Suite on Nov. 20, serves as evidence that students and faculty pursue projects formed in the spirit of Darlington's mission.

In the wake of reforms to the student government at the end of the 2014-15 school year, the responsibility of setting precedents for future student councils, staking out our place in the school community, serving the student body, and ensuring a functioning body for the future lies with this year’s group. We got to work creating bylaws and setting our long-term agenda over the summer. The House Senate had abandoned efforts to host a student government conference last year, so Student Council picked up where the House Senate left off as one of our priorities for 2015-16.

Sophomores David Hagler and Sam Tackeberry, working with faculty guidance and support, took on the conference as their project. Mr. Moss’ experience helped in determining which schools we would invite. Mrs. Miller went out of her way to make sure the space was clear for us and that we had everything we needed.

Mr. Evans made the school’s mission a reality more than any other faculty member in the process to plan and execute the symposium. David and Sam worked closely with Mr. Evans over the course of several weeks to create an agenda and invite the other schools. His insight and, most importantly, his willingness to take the time for students who were taking initiative led David and Sam to complete their project—and it encourages us to achieve more successes like this one.

Of the 10 schools the Student Council invited, three attended—Girls Preparatory School, Marist School, and the McCallie School. The small size actually proved ideal for what was effectively an experiment to see if such a conference would be fruitful and logistically feasible. We shared our student governments’ structure, functions and traditions. I most enjoyed, however, meeting our counterparts from other schools and making those connections.

We heard from guest speaker Buster Wright on the meaning of ethical leadership in the 21st century, which resonated with our members present and our guests. Positive attitudes and optimism pervaded our discussions, but toward the end of our time together, we found ourselves relating the challenges we face—from our relationships with school administrators, to motivating our peers to work together to positive ends.

My takeaway from this experience was that the students and faculty at Darlington can work together, playing on each other’s strengths, to accomplish ends that empower students to realize their goals, and everyone learns and grows in the process. We need more of that—more students taking initiative; more students asking the hard questions; more students seeking out the faculty who can guide them in the ways they need; more substantive connections between student ideas and the means to see them through to fruition. We need to strive more openly and wholeheartedly to live our mission, not just admire it on the walls.


Editor's note:
Will Crawford ('16) was elected last spring as the student body president of the newly-created Student Council, after students and faculty discontinued the House Senate model.